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Partners for Climate Action offers grant‑funded pollinator demonstration gardens for Red Hook parks
Summary
Partners for Climate Action proposed two small, grant‑funded pollinator demonstration gardens at Red Hook’s Rec Park; the group said the New York State Pollinator Conservation Fund will cover design, plants, signage and initial staffing, and Bard and local garden clubs will help maintain the beds.
Partners for Climate Action presented a grant‑funded proposal on Aug. 12 to install two small pollinator demonstration gardens in Red Hook’s Rec Park and asked the town board for a letter of commitment to proceed with contract and planting steps.
The group’s consultant, Ashley Gamel, said the project is funded through the New York State Pollinator Conservation Fund administered via a regional trust and that the grant covers design, plant materials, educational signage and project coordination. Gamel said the grant identifies five Hudson‑Valley municipalities for two demonstration gardens each; Red Hook would host two small, ornamental, low‑maintenance beds that volunteers and partnering organizations would maintain.
Why it matters: The proposed gardens are intended to conserve local, specialist pollinators and to provide visible, replicable planting plans citizens can copy at home. The project would be installed in spring 2026, would be staffed during the initial growing season by grant funds and would rely on Bard College’s Office of Sustainability and the Old Dutch Garden Club to supply student hours and volunteers for long‑term upkeep.
Details from the presentation Ashley Gamel, a Rhinebeck resident and ecological landscape designer working with Partners for Climate Action, said the two preferred Rec Park sites are a bed adjacent to a memorial bench near the ball fields and a small bed at the playground entrance. She described the plant palette as low, perennial clusters (not a seeded wildflower meadow), designed to be low maintenance and attractive to specialist native bees, moths and butterflies.
Gamel said installation of each demonstration bed is expected to take a single day; the grant provides staff time for coordination and to help local partners recruit volunteers and develop a maintenance plan. Bard’s Office of Sustainability committed to both volunteer coordination and some funding for paid student hours; Gamel said that level of agreed maintenance funding was a key reason Red Hook was invited to participate.
Next steps Gamel asked the board for guidance on the town’s process for a written commitment and whether signoff would require a formal vote. Board members asked her to submit an email summarizing the request and said they could consider it for the Aug. 27 meeting.
Ending No vote was taken Aug. 12. Partners for Climate Action plans to return with a written request and documentation so the town can consider a letter of commitment or formal agenda vote at a subsequent meeting.
